Seems I have been spending most my time on San Jacinto lately climbing in taquitzh. With that being said, I’m looking to get back into exploring the rest of the mountain. Leatherneck ridge is my favorite way up so far, but I’ve done C2C as well which wasn’t as fun for me (views weren’t as nice ).I love the long grinds and long days/overnights. Especially those with no man made trails leading up. Can anybody give me some beta on alternate routes up the mountain? I’ve done some map reconnaissance and have some future possible routes. Has anybody done anything along those lines?? Much appreciated!

Hi Revan,Leatherneck is a great challenge, (been many years for me).Another possibility, is what I believe used to be called the Gordon trail, (it was almost completely gone when I did it 20 yrs ago). It leaves above the private community of Club Andreas , (you'll need to avoid their land, so topo would be important),, which is just before entering Indian Cyns. Most likely an old route for natives to access the mtns for acorns & other food & animals.

Since the Mt. fire, there may be less brush, but anything on the north sides will be very tough, especially in the manzanita, (we we're able to work our way through pretty well). We topped out just south of Carumba, (since we knew we couldn't get across that huge drainage coming out of that area. A real grind, then you still have to go up another 2k to the tram.

Since you'd spend more time attempting to locate a very old trail, (if anything is left), would be better to survey the area, see where heavy brush & drainage's are, etc.ss

Like you, I enjoy most the ways that are not trails or even routes, except for the wilder animals. I choose possible ways, just as you have considered, and change course as I go. The San Jacintos are largely accessible this way because they are mostly not too steep.

I rarely go to San Jacinto itself. Too many people there. My favorite trip to San Jacinto is by snowshoe after a snow storm has obliterated all trails, routes and tracks. It is best when dark and dreary and visibility is low. The summit is quiet on those days, even if other hikers are making their own way through the fog.

guest wrote:Hi Revan,Leatherneck is a great challenge, (been many years for me).Another possibility, is what I believe used to be called the Gordon trail, (it was almost completely gone when I did it 20 yrs ago). It leaves above the private community of Club Andreas , (you'll need to avoid their land, so topo would be important),, which is just before entering Indian Cyns. Most likely an old route for natives to access the mtns for acorns & other food & animals.

Since the Mt. fire, there may be less brush, but anything on the north sides will be very tough, especially in the manzanita, (we we're able to work our way through pretty well). We topped out just south of Carumba, (since we knew we couldn't get across that huge drainage coming out of that area. A real grind, then you still have to go up another 2k to the tram.

Since you'd spend more time attempting to locate a very old trail, (if anything is left), would be better to survey the area, see where heavy brush & drainage's are, etc.ss

Wow, this post sent me on a deep dive into the Gordon trail, including reading the Gordon Trail Redux thread, and several chapters of Our Araby which was cited in that thread.

How legal is it to try to hike this? You say bring a topo map to avoid their land, but based on my research that would be pretty impossible. Their holdings overlap much of Andreas Canyon, so is there is some sort of easement or agreement that allows access to visitors via the toll road? *see edit

Here's a map from that document showing the land boundaries. The top of the map is cut off where you can see there you see there is more land to be accounted for. The land pictured equals just under 2000 acres.

EDIT: I see looking over the map again that at no point do you cross Andreas Canyon Club land when accessing the canyon via the Indian Canyons toll road (which I thought you did for some reason). I haven't been there in years, but I wonder if there are "no trespassing" signs if you wander farther down the canyon.

Hi Bretpct,Wow, thanks for all this research, makes me want to consider that route again, someday.When I did it, we we're fortunate to know someone in Andreas Club, and started just above their property.I'd assume starting just NW of their property would make the most sense. We're actually found a really old forest or state reserve mental circle in a rock, (like the corner makers & summit ones), around 3k ft., if I remember right.We actually stashed some loppers in the bushes, (in case the brush got too thick, (& we might want to hike it again, never used them, probably still there!).

Andreas Club eastern boundary begins where the Andreas Cyn loop crosses the stream & heads the 3/4 mile back to parking lot. Wouldn't make any sense to start there, (plus it would be trespassing), but maybe on the south west side of Oswit Cyn, (the big canyon against the San Jacintos just before Acanto Rd & Andreas Club's private, paved Rd.Would love to read any info on the old Gordon trail you might find, only a few on here, (Florian, Halhiker & a few others), may have ever heard of it. The Desert Riders, who've been riding these trails here for close to a hundred years, (one of our former mayors, Frank Bogert, was an avid rider, heck, even Lucie & Desi had a small stable close to the now hospital) & alone with the Cahuilla's, knew of these old ones.

We've lost, or our losing some of these old routes up the mountain, including the Live Oak Cyn, upper parts of Jo Pond, trails going to Bullseye Rock & beyond, (where the Wellman's ran cattle & had small cabins dotted around). Even the small trail that leaves Maynard Mine & drops down to Murray Cyn, where Jim Maynard had his homestead, are all but washed-out & over-grown. I'm guilty for not hiking these much either.

I am actually looking to do Snowcreek, hopefully on a Sunday and hopefully on the Nov 10. I have done skyline a number of times but I am training for a 30 mile train run and I thought this would be good practice. Anyone interested in going (looking for trail experience if needed). Carpooling also makes this hike much easier.

Snowcreek is excellent for trail running. From the trailhead to the peak is almost 100% gentle grade and you can see your car back at the trailhead from the peak. The Blair Witch Sign at the start is interesting. (The Snow Creek sign looks like something from the movie "The Blair Witch Project".) It's a total of about 31 miles when you include the 5.5 down to the tram, but it does go from around 1700' elevation to 10,800, so it's a workout. I drive up Black Mountain Truck Trail and cache water and juice at the place where the PCT crosses the road. Great place to re-supply.

As far as XC routes to the peak, there are two that I can recommend that are purely cross-country for much of the route and can be very challenging but very fun.

One is to start up the ridgeline near the Haugen Lehmann offramp of the 10 fwy just before the junction with the 111. It is rugged and challenging terrain, but if you simply stay on the ridge and keep going up you can eventually find your way to the road below the Fuller Ridge trailhead. Follow the trail on up (getting through the Castle Rocks area without a trail would be tedious and perhaps technical) to the peak and take the tram back down.

The other possibility is even harder but is crazy fun. You start below what I think is called Cabazon Peak and go up the insanely steep hillside. Be careful that you don't get yourself cliffed out in case you have to turn around. Once you crest Cabazon you stay on the ridge and eventually end up running into the road below Fuller Ridge...same finishing route. This way is fun because you will go past Onion Rock (an adventure that I worked my way through a number of years ago) which is a cool destination in itself. Here's a TR from when I first found my way to the Onion.

Both of these routes are very isolated and possibly dangerous. I don't think that will strike you as a problem. It made me a bit nervous when I found the eaten body of a deer and what looked to be a mountain lion lair nearby...but I have gone back... If you have questions or want to figure out the starting points in person at the beginning of each trail let me know and I'll be happy to meet you at the base and we can walk through it visually from the bottom. I'm in the middle of a move right now so I can't commit the time or I'd show you the routes myself. They are amazing!

Wildhorse wrote:I rarely go to San Jacinto itself. Too many people there. My favorite trip to San Jacinto is by snowshoe after a snow storm has obliterated all trails, routes and tracks. It is best when dark and dreary and visibility is low. The summit is quiet on those days, even if other hikers are making their own way through the fog.

I think it heavily depends on the date and time of day you hike up San Jacinto. I've been on the peak at sunset and found it completely empty despite excellent weather and visibility. But that was on a Friday and not on a busy weekend.